Sheet feeding, transporting and stacking mechanism control



J. H. M NElLL ET AL 3,390,878

July 2, 1968 SHEET FEEDING, TRANSPORTING AND STACKING MECHANISM CONTROL 3 Sheets--Sheet 1- Filed Oct. 5, 1964 ENTQRS Jol-lu Him lean, Suns R.Hm.aea1 Sfluouas G.|-|OLMES ATTORNEYS July 2, 1968 mac ETAL 3,390,878

SHEET FEEDING, TRANSPORTING AND STACKING MECHANISM CONTROL Filed Oct. 5, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet a INVENTORS JOHN HMAQNEILL, $ILAS R. HHLBERT (k THOMAS G. HOLMES M v flu..- NEYS July 2, 1968 acN ET AL. 3,390,878

SHEET FEEDING, TRANSPORTING AND STACKING MECHANISM CONTROL HEILL, ALBERT INVENTORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 fiuas R &- THOMRS 6. Homes BY w 964:

uuuzow 229 Mm Qnh ATTORNEYS United States Patent Oflice 3,390,878 Patented July 2, 1968 3,390,878 SHEET FEEDING, TRANSPORTING AND STACKING MECHANISM CONTROL John H. MacNeill, Indialantic, Silas R. Halbert, Palm Bay, and Thomas G. Holmes, Melbourne, Fla., as-

signors to Soroban Engineering, Inc., Melbourne, Fla.,

a corporation of Florida Filed Oct. 5, 1964, Ser. No. 401,368 28 Claims. (Cl. 271-57) The present invention relates to feeding, transporting and stacking systems for punched cards and similar sheetlike material, and more particularly, to a feeding, transporting and stacking system designed for efficient, high speed card handling, which system is adjustable for different card lengths.

In the punch card industry today, there are several lengths of cards that are in extensive commercial use. Because of this fact, it has become desirable to develop data processing systems that are easily adaptable to use with more than one length of card for obvious economical reasons. More particularly, it is desirable to provide a machine which permits conversion of the card handling apparatus to accommodate cards of long and short lengths by a simple operational procedure so that the machine can be reliably converted by a relatively unskilled person. According to the first aspect of this invention, there is provided an adjustable card handling apparatus for delivering a card from a supply bin to a utilization device and thereafter transporting the card from the latter device to a stacker bin, the apparatus being such that operation of a single hand lever, simultaneously effects all the necessary adjustments in the machine for a change in card length.

Specifically, according to the first aspect of our invention, an adjustable rail in the supply bin is provided to accommodate the different lengths of cards, an auxiliary feeding means is provided to pick up the short cards as they leave the utilization device (reader or puncher) and an auxiliary card stop at the stacker bin is provided to properly position the short cards in the stacker bin; all of these individual members being operatively positioned in response to a simple hand lever movement.

According to another aspect of our invention, automatic control means is provided for control of the machine so that a minimum number of cards will be damaged in the event of a card jam along the card track. To explain further, in present day machines, cards are fed at such a rapid rate that, in the event of a card jam, as many as several hundred cards can be damaged before the operator is apprised of the jam-up and can take the necessary action to stop the machine. In one instance of a malfunction in a known transport mechanism, 1500 documents were destroyed in this fashion. Further, damage to the machine can result if a jamming situation is left unchecked for a sufficient period since a build-up of a large number of cards between the feed surfaces designed for one card thickness can permanently damage some of the costly parts of the machine.

In short then, the apparatus of the present invention employs an integrated control system that is designed to increase the efficiency of the present day high speed data processing equipment by limiting the damaging effects of a card jam, essentially by limiting the number of cards that are in transit along the operating portion of the card track from the supply bin to the stacker bin at any one given time whereby the number of cards that can be involved in a jam-up is limited. In operation, a typical embodiment permits no more than three cards to be in transit along the track at one time, i.e. the picking operation at the supply bin is automatically inhibited as long as the first card of a three-card series has not cleared a photocell located for this purpose at the stacker throat of the stacker bin. As soon as the first card clears the stacker throat, the next picking operation is performed in the normal manner since at that moment there are only two cards moving along the feed track. Accordingly, no more than three cards can be damaged and the machine parts are protected in the event of a card jam along the card track of our machine.

A closely related problem that has long plagued the data processing industry is the fact that cards tend to suffer trailing edge damage during use due to, for example, the succeeding card in a series occasionally hitting the trailing edge of the preceding card as it decelerates to enter the stacker. It is reasonable to expect that eventually a jam-up will occur at the stacker throat as a result of this action. The present invention provides a stacker bin construction that encourages the trailing edges of the cards to rapidly clear the throat thereby providing a definite gap for insertion of a succeeding card thus tending to prevent trailing edge damage. An additional feature employed to detect trailing edge damage that is becoming sufficiently great to slow down the entry of the card into the stacker bin is the provision of a photocell at the stacker for observing the transit time of a card entering the stacker bin. If a card is slow in clearing the stacker gate, then the card has suffered damage and might, after a few more uses, become sufficiently damaged to cause a card jam. In this case, the light source is interrupted for an interval in excess of the time normally required for a card of that size to enter the bin, thereby indicating an error in an anticipatory manner and further card picking is inhibited whereby the damaged card can be removed. Adjusting means for the circuit are advantageously interconnected with the card length adjusting means, previously mentioned, whereby the transit time of the different lengths of cards are properly sensed.

While the stacker bin of the present invention is designed to prevent trailing edge damage, it is only reasonable to expect an occasional card to be processed which exhibits severe trailing edge damage and a succeeding card might then jam and be crushed against the trailing edge thereof as it enters the stacker. In this event, according to the invention, the picking operation is positively inhibited by the interruption of the light source of the stacker photocell mounted on a spring loaded stacker gate which is held open by the crushing action of the succeeding card attempting to enter the throat. The faulty card or cards can then be removed and replaced before the machine is reset for continued operation.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable feeding, transporting and stacking system.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a card length adjusting means for a data processing machine which permits conversion of the card handling equipment by a simple operational procedure to accommodate long and short cards.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an adjustment, for different lengths of cards, of a feeding, transporting and stacking system that requires the actuation of only a single mechanical lever to effect all of the necessary adjustments.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide, in a feeding, transporting and stacking system, an adjustable card guide rail for the supply bin to accommodate different lengths of cards and an auxiliary feeding and card stop means that is moved into operative position and an adjustable card timing circuit adjusted in response to the adjustment of said supply bin rail.

It is another object of this invention to provide an automatic control for a feeding and delivering system.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an automatic control circuit for a card feeding and delivering system that detects card jam-ups and potential card jam-ups and inhibits the card picking operation in response thereo.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide automatic control means for a data processing machine that limits the maximum number of cards which can be damaged in the event of a card jam.

It is another object of this invention to provide a stacker bin that encourages card trailing edges to clear the throat thereby providing a definite gap for insertion of the succeeding card.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a spring loaded stacker gate that is forced open to an inoperative position in the event of a card jam to thereby positively inhibit the card picking operation, i.e. delivery of additional cards to the system.

The above and still further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of one specific embodiment thereof, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of the present invention located in a specific environment with which it may be employed;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic perspective view further illustrating details of the invention as shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic diagram of the control circuit of the machine of FIGURES 1 and 2, according to the present invention;

FIGURE 3a is a schematic diagram of the Start Circuit of the circuit of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the stacker gate in an open position.

Referring now specifically to FIGURE 1 of the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a complete arrangement for picking a card from a supply bin, feeding it to a high speed punch or reader, transporting it through said punch or reader, ejecting it therefrom, and delivering it to a card stacker bin. In operation, the bottom-most card in a stack of cards in the supply bin, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, is withdrawn from the stack by means of a selectively actuatable picker mechanism 2, which is or may be of one or the other type disclosed in co-pending US. Patent applications Ser. No. 316,410, filed on Oct. 15, 1963, in the name of Silas R. Halbert for Card Picker Mechanism and Ser. No. 323,025, filed on Nov. 12, 1963, in the names of Silas R. Halbert and John H. MacNeill for Improved Card Picker Mechanism, and presented to a high speed card utilization device, such as a punch or reader, generally designated by the reference numeral 3. Disposed above the utilization device 3 is a feed mechanism generally designated by the reference numeral 4 employed with a card punch only to incrementally advanee the card through said utilization device 3 so that the desired punching operation can be performed. The feed mechanism 4 is designed to swing the card through a angle and therefore feed path or guide 6 lies at a 10 downward angle relative to the upper surface of the base plate 7, to initially change the plane of movement of the card so that said card exits the feed mechanism 4 in a generally horizontal plane. If the utilization device is a card reader, then pinch roller drives may be employed to move the card through the reader at a fixed continuous rate.

A photocell, generally designated by reference numeral 8, is stationed along feed path 6 immediately downstream of the base plate 7 to sense when a card has been picked by the picker mechanism 2 and thus is entering the feed path 6. The photocell 8 forms a part of the integrated con trol system for the machine and will be related to that system subsequently.

If the utilization device 3 is a card punch, there is provided a quick-eject mechanism, generally designated by the reference numeral 9, which, when it is desired to extract a card from the punch or reader mechanism 3, is actuated and withdraws the card to the left, as viewed in FIGURE 1, at a very rapid rate. After ejection from the punch or reader 3, the card enters a delivery path 10, which is formed by a series of rollers and guide members, as generally illustrated. The first pair of rollers along the delivery path 10, generally designated by reference numeral 11, are auxiliary in nature in that one of the rollers is pivotally mounted for movement away from the delivery path 10 for reasons which will subsequently become apparent. The delivery path 10 further includes a stacker mechanism 12, which propels the cards along said path 10 with sufficient momentum to clear a spring biased stacker gate 13 and form a stack of cards in a card stacker bin, generally designated by reference numeral 14.

A second photocell, generally indicated by reference numeral 15, is provided at stacker throat 16, which is formed between the stacker gate 13 and an inclined portion of a stacker base plate 17 to sense cards entering the stacker bin 14 from the deli-very path 10. The second or out photocell 15, in conjunction with the first or in photocell 8, initiate signals that control the flow of cards along the card track; including the combined picker, feed, punch or reader and delivery and stacker paths (1, 6, 3, 10 and 14) in a very eflicient manner, which will be discussed in detail later.

A card length adjustment mechanism, generally indicated in FIGURE 1 by reference numeral 20, provides the operator with a quick and easy means by which he can rapidly convert the entire card handling apparatus of the present invention to accommodate cards of long or short lengths, as desired. With special reference to FIGURE 2, the supply bin 1 is formed by a fixed rail 21 and a movable rail 22 which engage opposite ends of the cards of a stack. The cards are illustrated in FIG- URE 2 by the dashed line outline in their initial position in the feed bin of the apparatus. The movable rail 22 may be alternatively positioned in the short card position, as illustrated, or in the long card position, as clearly shown by dashed lines 22' by transverse movement of support member 23 and the integral rail 22 along slides 24, 24a, provided for this purpose. A handle 25 engages the support member 23 for easy grasp by the operator and a detent rod 26, operable by a pulling motion on said handle 25, positively positions the movable rail in either the short or long card positions by engaging apertures 27, 28, respectively. An endless cable 29 is connected to said support member 23 for actuation of the remaining two mechanical operating components of the card length adjustment mechanism 20, to be discussed now.

The first of these components is the pinch roller pair 11, which as will be remembered is positioned at the beginning of the delivery path 10. The function of the roller pair 11 is to pick up the short cards as they are ejected from the eject mechanism 9 and to feed them along the delivery path 10 toward the stacker mechanism 12 (FIGURE 1). This is necessary because, due to short driving length of the short cards, they cannot normally be given enough momentum by the eject mechanism S to reach the usual series of rollers comprising the delivery path 10. Drive roller 32 is continuously driven by the machine drive means via a suitable belt 33 and follower roller 34 is normally held out of engagement with said drive roller 32 so that the long cards can be ejected from eject mechanism 9 and picked up by the normal series of rollers along the delivery path 10 without hindrance. When it is desired to use the machine with short cards, the rollers 32 and 34 are brought into engagement in the short length operable position where they serve to rapidly pick up the card from the eject mechanism 9 and deliver it along the normal delivery path 10 without hesitation thereby avoiding a possible jam-up of cards at this critical location.

To explain the engagement action of these auxiliary rollers further, note that the roller 34 is supported by a shaft 35 and mounting block 36 combination, which, in turn, is supported by spaced leaf springs 37, 37a, which are secured to anchor block 38. Actuating motion for the roller 34 is provided by a reciprocable rod 39, one end ofwhich is fixed to the mounting block 36. The rod 39 gains its motion from an eccentric 40 and follower 40a, the latter being fixed to the other end of said rod 39. In operation, the eccentric 40 is turned by its mounting shaft 41 and associated pulley 42, which rotates in response to movement of the cable 29 positioned around said pulley 42. The resulting movement of the follower 40a and the rod 39 flexes the springs 37, 37a sufficiently to make or break contact between the rollers 32, 34 and thus, make or break the driving relationship between said rollers 32, 24.

The final mechanical adjustable component of the machine constructed according to the present invention is an auxiliary card stop 50 in the stacker bin 14, whose function is to provide an abutment suitable for engaging the leading edge and thus, stopping the short cards in the proper position in the bin 14. The card stop 50 is fabricated of flexible sheet material, such as spring steel or plastic, so that the impact of the card causes both the stop and the card to flex to a substantial degree thereby allowing the trailing edge of the card to clear the stacker throat for the proper entry of the following card, which is an important feature and will be discussed later in the detailed discussion of construction and operation of the stacker bin 14. For present purposes, suffice it to say that the auxiliary card stop 50 is raised to operative position for short card feed by pivotal movement about pivot 51 by an actuating means, comprising a member 52 integral with or secured to the stop 50. In operation, a pulley 55 through shaft 56 rotates the member 52 and the integral stop 50 through a 90 arc in response to movement of the cable 29. When the card length adjusting mechanism 20 is in the long card position, the stop 50 for-ms a portion of the base 17 by covering gap 57 so that the long cards can be properly stacked.

Thus, it can be seen that the physical machine is completely converted from one card length to another by simple mechanical movements in response to the sliding movement of the rail 22 which positions the supply stack of cards. The device is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and is capable of adaptation to almost any feeding and delivering system in which it is desired to be able to process more than one type of card (two or more). The use of the cable 29 for interconnecting the various components of the adjustment means 20 offers special results and advantages in terms of packaging, and sensitivity of control. More particularly, the cable 29 can be advantageously positioned through'the existing labyrinth of mechanical parts of the machine, and can be held under the desired degree of tension for sensitivity, by any number of idler guide wheels 58.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 3a, the control system for the apparatus is diagrammed in schematic form for ease of illustration and consists of a start circuit generally indicated by reference numeral 59, two basic error detecting circuits, generally indicated by reference numerals 60 and 61, the two photocells 8 and 15 and related circuitry, a timed feed signal source 62, and a four-input AND gate 63, all interconnected in the manner illustrated. The arrow F represents the feed output of the control system which supplies a command signal to the picker 2 when said system has indicated that a new card is to be picked and thus, inserted into the feed path 6 for processing. The fact that the AND gate 63 has four inputs, designated 64, 65, 66 and 67, immediately suggests to one skilled in the art that the control system must sense that four diflferent conditions simultaneously exist in the machine before a command signal to pick a new card is given to the picker 2, Le. a binary one signal, for example, must simultaneously exist at each of the input leads 64-67 before a binary one signal is generated at the output F for energization of the picker 2.

The first two of the four conditions that are necessary before a new card can be picked, according to the invention, is that the basic machine cycle has been started and has reached a time when the system is ready to accept a new card. The timing is such that the cards are originally spaced apart by a predetermined distance as they enter the card feed path 6. Thus, after start up through the circuit 59, which will be explained later the lead 64 exhibits a binary one signal, and dependent upon the time cycle that is set for the particular processing operation being performed, the timer source 62 periodically supplies a binary one signal to the AND gate 63 via the lead 65, and the first two conditions are met.

The second and third conditions that must be met to satisfy the present control system serve to insure an eflicient and safe operation of the machine by inhibiting further picking of cards from the stack in timed sequence once a jam-up or potential jam-up of cards along the card track is indicated. In short, the circuit 60 continuously monitors the number of cards placed in transit by the timer 62 along the operating portion of the card track; that is, from the supply bin 1 to the stacker bin 14, and automatically limits that number to any desired number, which number is chosen to be three in the present arrangement. Thus, the maximum number of cards that can be involved in a jam and thus damaged is limited. Secondly, the circuit 61 is employed to indicate the transit time of a card entering the stacker bin 14. If the transit time is too long for any one card due to a jam-up at the stacker or just due to the card traveling too slowly because of frayed or worn edges on the card or a malfunction in the stacked gate or the like, an error is indicated. Therefore, only if each card is entering the stacker bin 14 correctly does the circuit 61 sense that the stacker is performing correctly and that the picking operation should continue. Accordingly, in review, as long as there are two or less cards disposed along the operating portion of the card track of the machine and the cards are entering the stacker bin 14 within the prescribed time, the input leads 66 and 67 develop a binary one signal and said second and third conditions necessary for initiation of a picking operation via AND gate 63 are met.

Explaining the operation of the electrical circuit 60, consider the flow of cards past the photocells 8 and 15, as described in connection with a supply card S, transitory cards T T and staded cards S as illustrated in FIGURE 3. Assume initially that the system has been started, by a procedure that will be explained subsequently, and is operating on the cards T and T in the usual manner. As the supply card S is picked and ejected from the bin 1, a web portion of said card S interrupts the light beam generated across the gap between light source 8a and photocell 8 for a period of time, thereby causing an immediate drop and then rise in electrical energy or current supplied to amplifier 70. As graphically illustrated in FIGURE 3, the amplifier 70 passes a rectangular wave with a negative going portion representing the leading edge of the card S and a positive going portion representing the trailing edge of said card. A ditferentiator 71 generates a wave having a negative going spike and a positive going spike in response to the respective leading and trailing edges of the rectangular wave. A diode 72 passes only the positive going spike thereby supplying lead 73 with a positive pulse in response to the trailing edge of the card S, thus indicating that the card S is now disposed in the feed path 6. Similarly, in response to a card, such as card T the photocell 15 which receives light from a light source 15a generates a square wave which is amplified by amplifier 75 and differentiated by differentiator 76, a diode 7 77 passes only the positive going spike thereby supplying lead 78 with a positive pulse in response to the trailing edge of the card T thus indicating that said card T is now clear of the delivery path 10.

The leads 73 and 78 feed a two stage reversible counter 81), the former supplying the pulse to count up and the latter supplying the pulse to count down. The counter 80 has four states (0, 1, 2 and 3) and generates a binary one output signal at lead 81 in response to the first three states, and a binary zero signal in response to the fourth state; that is, as long as there are no more than two transitory cards T T in the system, a binary one signal is generated, whereas if there are three or more cards in the system such as T T and S, then a binary zero signal is generated. When card T passes photocell 15 signifying that it no longer is disposed along the delivery path, the counter 80 counts down and once again switches to a binary one state. This switching back and forth between states 2 and 3 may be illustrated as a rectangular wave and upon differentiation at 82, the negative going spike represents switching to state 3 and the positive going spike represents switching back to state 2. Flip-flop 83, which must be switched to the binary one state at start-up through a start circuit as indicated by arrow 84, has the usual binary states, zero and one, and is switched from one to the other in response to the foregoing negative and positive going spikes in a bistable manner. The flip-flop generates under normal conditions a rectangular wave having a negative going portion in response to a third card of a series entering the card track of the machine, and a positive going portion in response to the first card of the same series leaving said card track, when the machine has been started.

As previously indicated, the lead 66 is in the binary one state only when photocells 8 and 15 report that the card track can receive a card without exceeding a total of three at any given time. In the event of a card jam along the way, further feed is inhibited and the number of cards thus damaged is limited.

The operation of electrical circuit 61 will now be considered, it being remembered that this circuit checks the transit time of the cards entering the stacker bin to indicate either a stacker jam-up or a potential jam due to the cards traversing the stacker gate 13 too slowly. This check is performed entirely from a single sensing means, the photocell 15. It will be recalled that differentiator 76 generates a wave with a negative going spike followed by a positive going spike indicating the passage of the respective leading and trailing edges of the card T Considering first the lower portion of the circuit 61 as illustrated in FIGURE 3, the wave is inverted by inverter 86, whereupon the sequence of the spikes is simply reversed, and hence the positive pulse, now representing the leading edge of the card T is passed by diode 87 to lead 88. A monostable flip-flop or one shot multivibrator 89 is activated by said positive pulse and generates a binary one signal at lead 90 for a predetermined time interval which is variable in accordance with the capacitance C or C that has been previously selected as will be discussed later. Accordingly, a three input AND gate 91 is now partially set to pass a binary one signal for a predetermined time only.

Considering now the upper portion of the circuit 61, it will be remembered that the diode 77 passes only the positive spike indicated, which represents that the trailing edge of the card T has cleared the photocell 15 and thereby indicates that said 'card T has successfully entered the stacker bin 14. Therefore, lead 95 branching from lead 78 which feeds the circuit 60, receives a positive pulse representing the trailing edge of the card T thereby activating monostable flip-flop or one shot multivibrator 96, having a fixed capacitance C in response thereto, which in turn generates a binary one signal at lead 97 for some fixed period corresponding to said capacitance C. If lead 97 receives a binary one pulse within the time limit selected by the capacitance of capacitors C or C of the one shot multivibrator 89, then the AND gate 91 is set to pass a binary one signal at two of its leads, needing only one more binary one signal to complete the pass. This final signal comes from a lock out sub-circuit that is designed to block feeding once the timing system has completely skipped a cycle and is to be explained now.

The output signal of the AND gate 91 establishes a potential across an integrator 98 only if a binary one signal is passed by said AND gate with the exception that said integrator is given an original potential from the start circuit 59, as indicated by arrow 84, to sustain it on start up until the first card reaches the photocell 15. The potential supplied to the integrator by a binary one state of the AND gate 91 is sufficient to sustain a flipflop 99 in the binary one state for roughly the time it takes for one card feed only. Therefore, further feed is inhibited until the machine is reset if there is a break in the light beam of the photocell 15 that indicates an error at the stacker gate, since in this case, the flip-flop 99 will switch to the zero state and feed back 100 is not activated thereby effectively blocking the AND gate 91. On the other hand, assuming that the stacker gate 13 has not been held open beyond the prescribed interval and thus the cards are clearing the throat 16 within the prescribed time, the potential across the integrator 98 does not decay to a reduced value that is sufiicient to switch the flip-flop 99 to the zero state, and the feed in the machine automatically continues since the lead 67 is now held in the binary one state.

Start up of the machine, previously touched on, is easily effected by the operator in that he simply makes his selection of the size card desired to be used by moving the rail 22 by the hand lever 25 in the manner indicated, and then he activates a suitable single control, generally indicated by reference numeral in FIGURE 1, whereupon the machine automatically starts up and continues to run until stop control 110a is pressed by the operator or an error is indicated by either of the circuits 60, 61. Safety switches 111 and 112 of the microswitch type, having reference to FIGURE 1, are provided along the base plate 7 and communicate with the detent rod 26, so that the start circuit 59 cannot be activated unless the detent rod 26 is firmly seated in one of the apertures 27, 28 indicating that the adjustable mechanical components of the machine are properly adjusted for either long or short card feed.

Referring now specifically to FIGURE 3a, the start circuit 59 is illustrated and is provided to activate the leads 63 and 84, previously mentioned, with an appropriate signal from signal sources 113, 114, respectively. At start-up, the upper portion of the push button switch 110 temporarily makes contact between the signal source 114 and lead 84 to activate necessary elements in the circuits 60, 61 including the flip-flops 83 and 99 and to reset the counter 80 to zero by simultaneously applying appropriate potentials from said signal source 114 to each of them. Simultaneously with the activation of the circuits 60, 61, the signal source 113 provides the lead 63 with a binary one signal to set the AND gate 63 for operation, since switch contacts 115, 115a are closed by current supplied to solenoid 116 as a result of closing of the lower portion of the switch 110. As can be readily seen, the switch contacts 115a provide a holding circuit for the relay 116 whereby the binary one signal is retained on the lead 63 after the switch 110 has been released. This isso since the solenoid 116 is maintained energized until the manual stop switch 110a is actuated or both of the microswitches 111 and 112 are opened at the same time indicating that the mechanical machine components are no longer properly adjusted for either the long or short card feed. After the counter 80 is reset to zero and the flip-flops 83 and 99 are set to the binary one state, leads 64, 66 and 67 exhibit binary one signals so that on each succeeding timed feed pulse from source 62 to AND gate 63 via lead 65, cards are fed into the system whereby the counter 80 counts up until the indicated threshold count (3) is reached after which the automatic control limits the number of cards in the system to this number. As previously indicated, the proper potential for the flipflop 99 is initially supplied to the integrator 98 by lead 84 to maintain the flip-flop 99 in the one position until the first card passes the photocell 15. Thereafter, the potential is sustained as a result of the cards passing the photocell 15 until an error is detected and the potential is allowed to bleed past the critical level to inhibit further card feed.

The safety microswitch 112 has an additional function in that it provides contacts that supply leads 117, 117a with a potential to actuate solenoid 118 (FIGURE 3) which changes the transit time circuit 61 from the long to short card time by changing the timing capacitor of the monostable multivibrator 89 from C to C through tandem switches 119, 119a, as illustrated in FIGURE 3. Thus, as the operator selects the proper adjustment for the mechanical components of the machine, the predetermined transit time for the cards past the photocell 15 is appropriately varied or selected to fit the particular size cards being used, which is required because the proper transit time for a short card is proportionately less than the proper transit time for a longer card. With this arrangement for selecting the predetermined transit time, it may be desirable to provide adjustments for each of the capacitors C C so that the sensitivity of the machine can be adjusted by varying the critical transit time for the cards entering the stacker bin 14 for each different card size.

The construtcion of the stacker bin 14, according to the present invention, tends to prevent the jamming of the trailing edges of a card by a following card at the stacker throat 16. More particularly, as best shown in FIGURE 1, belt 120 of the stacker 12 carries the card up the inclined portion of the plate 17 past the throat 16 and into the bin 14 at an angle of about where said card bends back and then drives against either the short card stop 50 or long card stop 121, depending upon the adjustment of the card track, as previously discussed. The long card stop 121 is like short card stop 50 in that it is also fabricated of spring metal or plastic for resiliency so that the trailing edge of the card can drive forward past face plate 122 at apex of end 123 adjacent the throat 16 and rebound toward said face plate which is mounted on the free end of gate 13. In order to provide an inducement for the trailing edge of the cards to quickly clear the throat 16 as the trailing edge drives past, there is provided a stacker lift nozzle 124 which communicates with the cards as they pass the throat 16 through elongated aperture 125 in the gate 13. The nozzle 124 is made of flexible tubing and is provided with a vacuum from a suitable suction source 126 at the mounting block 127. The differential in pressure thus created across the cards retains them in intimate contact with the bottom of the gate 13 so that as they pass the apex 123 of the face plate at the throat 16, said apex 123 flips the trailing edges so that the spring action in said cards is utilized to urge the cards upwardly along the face plate 122. As illustrated best in FIGURE 4, the aperture 125 opens past the apex 123 so as to provide a bleed path for the suction from the nozzle 124 to prevent said suction from appreciably restraining the forward movement of said cards into the bin 14. As illustrated, the face plate 122 is angled with respect to the horizontal portion of the base plate 17 at about 100 (FIGURE 1) so that as the card is driven backwards by the spring force exerted by the card stop 50 or 121, the trailing edge of the card which has already begun its upward movement due to its own spring action, is now forced upward away from the throat 16 by an easy sliding movement along said face plate 122 to afford complete clearance at the throat 16 for the next card. In other words, the cards entering the stacker bin 14 rapidly flip upwards away from the throat 16 to a rest position where they are permanently held wedged together between one of the stops 50, 121 and the face plate 122 with their trailing edges slanted upwardly away from said base plate 17 and free of the stacker throat 16 providing a definite gap for insertion of a succeeding card. Further, said cards, it should be noted, enter the gap at about a 10 angle thus further increasing the size and jam preventing effectiveness of said gap (see FIGURE 1).

The stacker gate 13 is lightly spring loaded by spring 130 around pivot point 131 so that the gate 13 urges the card into intimate contact with the belt for positive feed of the cards. Upper portion 124 of the face plate 122 engages back wall 126 to form an integrated rear wall for the stacker bin 14 when the gate 13 is in operative position. However, in the event of a jam-up at the stacker throat 16, the spring loaded stacker gate 13 is forced open by the crushing action of the succeeding card, said open position being shown in FIGURE 4. The spring 123 passes over the pivot point 131 in an over-center type movement when the gate 13 is forced open and thus, the light beam of photocell 15 is permanently interrupted since the gate remains in this open position until manually reset at which time the light beam from the source 15a can again communicate with the photocell 15 (see FIGURE 2). To explain further, in the event of a card ramming the preceding card as it decelerates to enter the bin 14, an open stacker gate 13 results which condition is indicated by the transit time circuit 61 that monitors the photocell 15, and further card feeding is positively inhibited until the damaged card or cards can be removed and the machine reset for operation.

Therefore, according to the present invention, our machine is not only easily adjustable to accommodate different lengths of cards, but in addition, has an integrated control system for efficiently handling the different lengths of cards at high speed. In short, the present invention prevents serious damage to the punched cards or the machine in the event of a card jam, which has always been a problem in the industry, by instantaneously sensing jam-ups or potential jam-ups along the card track and then automatically inhibiting further card feed until the situation is corrected. Further, the present card stacker arrangement tends to prevent trailing edge damage and jam-ups at the stacker throat, which in previous machines, was usually the source of the greatest amount of trouble for a given number of cards processed. However, if a card jam should occur at this critical location in the present machine, which happens on occasion, since the positive interruptive action of the machine is automatic and instantaneous, the corrective action can be taken by the operator, as in the other situations described, before a significant amount of damage is done.

While we have described and illustrated one specific embodiment of our invention, it will be clear that variations of the details of construction which are specifically illustrated and described may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a feeding and delivering system for cards and similar sheet-like material having a card track along which card are serially fed from one position to another;

means to adjust said system to accommodate different size cards;

detecting means for sensing the transit time of each card past a position along said track;

disabling means for inhibiting further card feed along said track in response to the detection of a transit time of one of said cards that varies from a predetermined transit time, said predetermined transit time being differcnt for each size card; and

means for varying said predetermined transit time detectable by said disabling means in response to the adjustment of said system to accommodate a particular size card.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said system includes a supply bin for said cards and said adjusting means includes means for adjusting the size of said bin.

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein said adjusting means for said supply bin includes a slidable rear guide that positions the trailing edges of said cards in said bin.

4. The combination according to claim 3, wherein said bin adjusting means further includes detent means for properly positioning said guide, said transit time varying means operating in response to said detent means.

5. In a feeding and delivering system for punched cards and similar sheet-like material having picker means for intermittently picking a card from a supply bin and a card track including feeding means forming a feed path from said supply bin to a utilization device and delivering means forming a delivery path from said utilization device to a stacker bin, the combination comprising;

means to adjust the size of said supply bin to accommodate different size cards;

detecting means for sensing the transit time of said cards past a position along said paths;

disabling means for inhibiting further card feed along said track in response to the detection of a transit time of one of said cards that varies from a predetermined transit time, said predetermined transit time being different for each size card; and

means for varying said predetermined transit time in response to the adjusted size of said supply bin.

6. The combination according to claim 5, wherein said bin adjustment means includes an adjustable rail for positioning said cards in said supply bin, said rail having a first and second operative position to accommodate said different size cards.

7. The combination according to claim 6 wherein is further provided auxiliary feeding means for feeding said cards along at least a portion of said paths and auxiliary card stop means for stopping said cards at the end of said track in said stacker bin, said auxiliary means being normally in an inoperative position and movable to an operative position in response to the movement of said rail from said first position to said second position.

8. The combination according to claim 7 wherein said rail is interconnected for simultaneous movement with said auxiliary means by a cable.

9. In a feeding and delivery system for punched cards and similar sheet-like material having picker means for intermittently picking a card from a supply bin and a card track including feeding means forming a feed path from said supply'bin to a utilization device and delivering means forming a delivery path from said utilization device to a stacker bin, the combination comprising means to adjust the size of said supply bin to accommodate different size cards, said bin adjustment means including an adjustable rail for positioning said cards in said supply bin, having a first and second operative position to accommodate said different size cards, auxiliary feeding means for feeding said cards along at least a portion of said paths and auxiliary card stop means for stopping said cards at the end of said track in said stacker bin, said auxiliary means being normally in an inoperative position and movable to an operative position in response to the movement of said rail from said first position to said second position.

10. Control circuit means for a feeding and delivery system for cards and similar sheet-like material comprising a card track, means for feeding cards onto said card track means for moving cards along said card track from one position to another;

means for determining the precise number of cards in transit along said track at any time and means for disabling said means for moving upon detection of a number of cards along said card track in excess of a predetermined number whereby the number of cards damaged in the event of a card jam is limited.

11. In a control circuit for a feeding and delivering system for cards and similar sheet-like material having a card track along which cards are serially fed from one position to another, the combination comprising card sensing means adjacent the ends of said track;

means for determining the precise number of cards disposed in transit along said track at any time in response to said sensing means and means for terminating feeding of cards along said card track upon detection of a number of cards along said track in excess of a predetermined number.

12. In a control circuit for a feeding and delivering system for cards and similar sheet-like material having a card track along which cards are serially fed from one position to another, the combination comprising card sensing means adjacent the ends of said track; means for detecting the number of cards disposed in transit along said track in response to said sensing means, means for terminating feeding of cards along said card track upon detection of a number of cards along said track in excess of a predetermined number, one of said card sensing means including means for detecting the transit time of each card past said sensing means; and disabling means for inhibiting further card feed along said track in response to the detection of a transit time of one of said cards that varies from a predetermined transit time said detecting means comprises a reversible counter, said counter counting up in response to signals generated by the other of said card sensing means and said counter counting down in response to signals generated by said one of said card sensing means; said other card sensing means comprising a photocell located adjacent the beginning of said card track and said one card sensing means comprising another photocell located adjacent the end of said card track.

13. The combination of claim 12, wherein said disabling means comprises a first flip-flop means having any adjustable time constant, said first fiip-flopbeing actuated in response to detection of the leading edge of each card by said card sensing means, a second flip-flop means, said second flip-flop means being responsive to detection of the trailing edge of each card by said card sensing means, and an associated AND gate whereby said feed is inhibited if said second flip-flop is not actuated within the time set by said adjustable time constant.

14. The combination according to claim 12, wherein one component of said photocell is mounted on a pivotally mounted gate whereby when said gate is open said photocell is disabled and further feed is positively inhibited.

15. In a feeding and delivering device for punched cards and similar sheet-like material, a stacker bin comprising a throat;

a base plate extending from said throat for supporting said cards in stacked relationship;

flexible card stop means extending generally perpendicular to said base plate downstream of said throat for engaging the leading edge of each of said cards and driving said card backwards and a face plate engaging the trailing edge of said card as it rebounds backwards, said face plate extending at more than a angle with respect to said base plate whereby said trailing edge of said card is biased away from said base plate providing a definite gap adjacent said throat for insertion of a succeeding card.

16. The combination according to claim 15, wherein said throat is formed between one end of said face plate and a portion of said base plate, said portion of said base plate forming an acute angle with the main portion 13 of said base plate forming said bin whereby said cards enter said bin at an angle.

17. The combination according to claim 16 wherein said face plate is formed on the free end of a pivotal stacker gate, drive means is provided along said portion of said base plate, and spring means is provided to bias said free end of said gate into intimate contact with said driving means.

18. The combination according to claim 17 wherein is further provided a suction means mounted on said gate to urge said cards against said end of said face plate, whereby said cards are flipped free of said throat by said end upon entering said bin.

19. The combination according to claim 15 wherein one end of said face plate forms a portion of said throat and pressure means is provided adjacent said throat to urge said cards against said end of said face plate whereby said cards are flipped free of said throat by said end upon entering said bin.

20. In a feeding and delivering system for cards and similar sheet-like material having a supply bin for said cards, a card track along which cards taken from said supply bin serially fed from one position to another and a stacker pin for receiving said cards, the combination comprising:

means for detecting a jam condition at the stack as said cards enter said stacker bin, said means comprising a pivoted gate member, a pivot on which said gate member turns, an over-center spring attached to said gate member adjacent said pivot to bias said gate member into contact with said cards during normal operation, said gate member being displaced by an accumulation of cards indicative of a jam sufliciently to move said spring over-center whereby said gate member is held in a displaced position and means responsive to the displacement of said gate member for inhibiting further card feed along said track.

21. The combination according to claim 20 wherein the means responsive to the displacement of said detecting means comprises a photo-responsive means mounted on said detecting means in such manner that it is in line with a light source during normal operation and is turned away from said light source when a jam condition occurs.

22. In a feeding and delivering system for cards and similar sheet-like material having a supply bin for said cards, a card track along which cards taken from said supply bin are serially fed from one position to another and a stacker for receiving said cards, means for facilitating the introduction into and the stacking within said stack comprising;

said stacker having a planar bottom member,

conveyor means for transporting said cards into said stacker, said conveyor means defining a path angularly displaced from said bottom member of said stacker whereby said cards enter the stacker slightly bent away from said bottom member of the stacker,

means for arresting the forward motion of said card when it is completely in the stacker,

flexible wall members at the entrance to said stacker,

said flexible wall means engaging the trailing edge of said card when said card straightens from said slightly bent condition in said stacker.

23. The combination according to claim 22 wherein said arresting means is of flexible material whereby the trailing edge of said card may completely clear said flexible wall and then be biased thereagainst.

24. The combination according to claim 22 wherein fluid pressure means are provided to lift said cards into the stack of said stacker.

25. A card stacker mechanism comprising a bottom wall, means for presenting cards to said stacker at an obtuse angle relative to said bottom wall whereby said cards are bent as they enter said stacker under a stack,

means for arresting the forward motion of said card when it is completely in the stacker,

flexible wall means at the entrance to said stacker, said flexible wall means engaging the trailing edge of said card when said card straightens from said slightly bent condition in said stacker.

26. The combination according to claim 25 wherein fluid pressure means are provided to lift said cards into the stack of said stacker.

27. Control circuit means for a feeding and delivery system for cards and similar sheet-like material comprising a card track, means for feeding cards onto said card track means for moving cards along said card track from one position to another; means for determining the precise number of cards in transit along said track at any time and means for disabling said means for feeding upon detection of a number of cards along said card track in excess of a predetermined number whereby the number of cards damaged in the event of a card jam is limited.

28. The combination according to claim 27 wherein said means for disabling also disables said means for moving.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,770,459 11/1956 Wilson 271-57 2,844,371 7/1958 Rowlands et a1. 27144 2,865,154 12/1958 Coyne 27157 X 2,963,293 12/ 1960 Klein 271-57 3,150,873 9/1964 MacGregor 27157 3,204,950 9/1965 Hanchett 271-57 M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

C. H. SPADERNA, R. A. SCHACHER,

Assistant Examiners. 

10. CONTROL CIRCUIT MEANS FOR A FEEDING AND DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR CARDS AND SIMILAR SHEET-LIKE MATERIAL COMPRISING A CARD TRACK, MEANS FOR FEEDING CARDS ONTO SAID CARD TRACK MEANS FOR MOVING CARDS ALONG SAID CARD TRACK FROM ONE POSITION TO ANOTHER; MEANS FOR DETERMINING THE PRECISE NUMBER OF CARDS IN TRANSIT ALONG SAID TRACK AT ANY TIME AND MEANS FOR DISABLING SAID MEANS FOR MOVING UPON DETECTION OF A NUMBER OF CARDS ALONG SAID CARD TRACK IN EXCESS OF A PREDETERMINED NUMBER WHEREBY THE NUMBER OF CARDS DAMAGED IN THE EVENT OF A CARD JAM IS LIMITED. 